It has produced one of the most consistent sets of negative results in the history of science. For more than 60 years, researchers have tried to find a single convincing piece of evidence to support the idea that we share the universe with other intelligent beings. Despite these decades of effort, they have failed to make contact of any kind.

But the hunt for alien civilisations may be entering a new era, researchers believe. Scientists with Breakthrough Listen, the world’s largest scientific research programme dedicated to finding alien civilisations, say a host of technological developments are about to transform the search for intelligent life in the cosmos.

These innovations will be outlined at the group’s annual conference, which is to be held in the UK for the first time, in Oxford, this week. Several hundred scientists, from astronomers to zoologists, are expected to attend.

Astronomer Steve Croft, a project scientist with Breakthrough Listen, said: “There are amazing technologies that are under development, such as the construction of huge new telescopes in Chile, Africa and Australia, as well as developments in AI. They are going to transform how we look for alien civilisations.”

Among these new instruments are the Square Kilometre Array, made up of hundreds of radio telescopes now being built in South Africa and Australia, and the Vera Rubin Observatory that is being constructed in Chile. The former will become the world’s most powerful radio astronomy facility while the latter, the world’s largest camera, will be able to image the entire visible sky every three or four nights, and is expected to help discover millions of new galaxies and stars.

Both facilities are set to start observations in the next few years and both will provide data for Breakthrough Listen. Using AI to analyse these vast streams of information for subtle patterns that would reveal evidence of intelligent life will give added power to the search for alien civilisations, added Croft.

“Until now, we have been restricted to looking for signals deliberately sent out by aliens to advertise their existence. The new techniques are going to be so sensitive that, for the first time, we will be able to detect unintentional transmissions as opposed to deliberate ones and will be able to spot alien airport radar, or powerful TV transmitters – things like that.”

The importance of being able to detect civilisations from the signatures of their everyday activities is supported by astrophysicist Prof Adam Frank of the University of Rochester in New York. “By searching for signatures of an alien society’s day-to-day activities – a technosignature – we are building entirely new toolkits to find intelligent, civilisation-building life,” he writes in his new book, The Little Book of Aliens.

All sorts of technosignatures have been suggested as indicators of the presence of alien civilisations, from artificial lighting to atmospheric pollution. Some scientists have even suggested that alien civilisations could be spotted from the solar panels they have built. Solar panels absorb visible light but strongly reflect ultraviolet and infrared radiation, which could be detected using a powerful telescope.

However, this would only be possible to spot if vast tracts of a planet’s surface had been covered in solar farms and hundreds of hours of observing time were committed to such a search, says astrobiologist Lewis Dartnell, writing in the latest edition of the BBC’s Sky at Night magazine.

Other alien efforts to trap solar radiation could be even more elaborate and conspicuous, however. The US physicist Freeman Dyson once proposed that some civilisations might be advanced enough to build vast arrays of solar panels encircling their home stars. These great orbiting edifices – known as Dyson spheres – would be detectable from Earth, and several candidates have been proposed, including Boyajian’s star, in the constellation Cygnus, whose output of light is sporadic and unpredictable. Some suggested this could be being caused by a Dyson sphere, though recent observations have ruled out the possibility.

The hunt for alien civilisations has been a cornerstone of cinematic sci-fi spectaculars from E.T. to Contact, Arrival and District 9. However, extraterrestrial life forms have remained the stuff of fiction, despite efforts which began in earnest in 1960 when astronomer Frank Drake used a 26-metre radio telescope to search for possible signals from the stars Tau Ceti and Epsilon Eridani. None were detected – a state of affairs that has continued despite vast increases in the power and sophistication of modern telescopes.

Whether this stream of negative results continues remains to be seen. Croft remains optimistic that we will soon succeed in making contact. “We know that the conditions for life are everywhere, we know that the ingredients for life are everywhere.

“I think it would be deeply weird if it turned out we were the only inhabited planet in the galaxy or in the universe. But you know, it’s possible.”

The Princess of Wales will award the Wimbledon men’s trophy to the winner of the final on Sunday, in a rare public appearance since her cancer diagnosis.

It will be the second time she has appeared in public after undergoing abdominal surgery in January, which led to the discovery of the cancer and the beginning of chemotherapy treatment in late February. Last month, she attended the trooping the colour ceremony for King Charles’s official birthday before which she released a statement saying she was “making good progress” but was “not out of the woods yet”.

Catherine has been a patron of the All-England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club since 2016, and it is customary for her to present the trophy to the winners of the men’s and women’s final. Last year, she presented the men’s trophy to Carlos Alcaraz after his victory against Novak Djokovic. The two will play each other again in this year’s final.

Catherine will not attend the women’s final on Saturday. Instead, the Wimbledon chair, Debbie Jevans, will present the women’s trophy on her behalf to either Jasmine Paolini or Barbora Krejcikova.

In March, Catherine released a video in which she announced her cancer diagnosis, after months of speculation prompted by her admission to the London Clinic on 16 January for abdominal surgery.

The speculation was partly fuelled by an image released to the press by Catherine on Mother’s Day, which was recalled by some of the world’s biggest picture agencies over claims that it was doctored. The princess later apologised for the “confusion” and admitted to editing the photograph.

In the video released in March, she said: “In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London and at the time, it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous. The surgery was successful. However, tests after the operation found cancer had been present. My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy and I am now in the early stages of that treatment.”

Catherine said her focus was on reassuring her children. “As I have said to them, I am well and getting stronger every day by focusing on the things that will help me heal, in my mind, body and spirits. Having William by my side is a great source of comfort and reassurance too. As is the love, support and kindness that has been shown by so many of you. It means so much to us both.”

Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial came to a dramatic end on Friday, after a New Mexico judge dismissed the case against the actor and found that the state had improperly withheld evidence related to how live rounds of ammunition ended up on the film set where the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot.

Just days after courtroom proceedings had begun, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ruled in favor of the defense and agreed that the charges against Baldwin should be dropped, finding that the state had concealed evidence that would have been favorable to the actor. The dismissal, made with prejudice, puts an end to the involuntary manslaughter case against Baldwin.

“The state’s willful withholding of information was intentional and deliberate,” Sommer said. “There is no way for the court to right this wrong.”

The news was met with relief from Baldwin, 66, who appeared to weep and hugged his attorneys and his wife, as the judge issued her ruling. Baldwin swiftly left court without making a statement to media.

The evidence in question was live rounds of ammunition turned over to New Mexico police in March, following the conviction of Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the film’s armorer. That evidence suggested the live ammunition that made its way on to the set came from the prop supplier, rather than the film’s armorer, Baldwin’s attorney Alex Spiro said.

A witness confirmed to the judge on Friday afternoon that a special prosecutor in the case, Kari Morrissey, was directly involved in the decision to file the evidence in an entirely different case file separate from the other Rust materials.

The day had the twists and turns of a Hollywood drama as Morrissey’s role was revealed, another special prosecutor in the case resigned mid-day, and Morrissey took the stand herself. During her testimony, Baldwin’s defense attorney asked her whether she had referred to the actor as an “arrogant prick” and “cocksucker” in a conversation with a witness.

The dismissal brings to a sudden end the criminal case against Baldwin over death of Hutchins on the Rust movie set. The 42-year-old cinematographer died after a gun Baldwin was holding during rehearsals fired a single live round of ammunition.

Prosecutors have long said evidence shows that Gutierrez-Reed, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in March, was the source of the live round, but the defense said the state had received evidence that suggested otherwise and “buried” it. A “good samaritan” had come forward to police this year with a box of munitions that he claimed came from the prop supplier, Seth Kenney, and matched the ammunition that killed Hutchins, Spiro had said on Thursday.

A report of that interview was not included with the other Rust evidence nor shared with the lawyer of Gutierrez-Reed, Spiro said. Testimony from Alexandria Hancock, with the Santa Fe county sheriff’s office, revealed that she and other officials made the decision to file it separately from the other Rust evidence in an entirely different case file.

Baldwin’s attorneys said the the report was relevant to the entire case and relevant to the credibility of witnesses who testified in the trial.

“If this evidence wasn’t as important as we say it is, they would have turned it over,” Nikas said.

In the morning, Morrissey had described the motion as a “wild goose chase” and said she had never before seen the report about the ammunition brought to the sheriff’s office. But as the judge questioned Hancock, the corporal said that Morrissey had taken part in the decision to keep the evidence separate from the Rust case – which elicited gasps in the courtroom.

Troy Teske, the man who came forward with the ammunition, is a friend of Gutierrez-Reed’s father, Morrissey had said earlier. She denied the defense’s accusations and said Baldwin’s team was aware of the evidence brought forward.

In a highly unusual move, Morrissey called herself to the stand to defend her conduct – despite instruction from the judge that she did not have to do so. “I was not aware at that point in time that it would not be linked to the Rust case number,” she said.

On cross-examination, Spiro asked Morrissey if she disliked Baldwin – which she denied – and if she had ever referred to the actor as an “arrogant prick” and “cocksucker” in a conversation with a witness.

She said she did not recall doing so.

“I actually really appreciate Mr Baldwin’s movies,” she said. “I really appreciated the acting he did on Saturday Night Live. And I actually really appreciate his politics.”

The developments upended the prosecution’s case and it was revealed during Morrissey’s testimony that the special prosecutor Erlinda Johnson had resigned in the middle of the day.

Baldwin could have faced 18 months in prison if convicted.

Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial came to a dramatic end on Friday, after a New Mexico judge dismissed the case against the actor and found that the state had improperly withheld evidence related to how live rounds of ammunition ended up on the film set where the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot.

Just days after courtroom proceedings had begun, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ruled in favor of the defense and agreed that the charges against Baldwin should be dropped, finding that the state had concealed evidence that would have been favorable to the actor. The dismissal, made with prejudice, puts an end to the involuntary manslaughter case against Baldwin.

“The state’s willful withholding of information was intentional and deliberate,” Sommer said. “There is no way for the court to right this wrong.”

The news was met with relief from Baldwin, 66, who appeared to weep and hugged his attorneys and his wife, as the judge issued her ruling. Baldwin swiftly left court without making a statement to media.

The evidence in question was live rounds of ammunition turned over to New Mexico police in March, following the conviction of Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the film’s armorer. That evidence suggested the live ammunition that made its way on to the set came from the prop supplier, rather than the film’s armorer, Baldwin’s attorney Alex Spiro said.

A witness confirmed to the judge on Friday afternoon that a special prosecutor in the case, Kari Morrissey, was directly involved in the decision to file the evidence in an entirely different case file separate from the other Rust materials.

The day had the twists and turns of a Hollywood drama as Morrissey’s role was revealed, another special prosecutor in the case resigned mid-day, and Morrissey took the stand herself. During her testimony, Baldwin’s defense attorney asked her whether she had referred to the actor as an “arrogant prick” and “cocksucker” in a conversation with a witness.

The dismissal brings to a sudden end the criminal case against Baldwin over death of Hutchins on the Rust movie set. The 42-year-old cinematographer died after a gun Baldwin was holding during rehearsals fired a single live round of ammunition.

Prosecutors have long said evidence shows that Gutierrez-Reed, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in March, was the source of the live round, but the defense said the state had received evidence that suggested otherwise and “buried” it. A “good samaritan” had come forward to police this year with a box of munitions that he claimed came from the prop supplier, Seth Kenney, and matched the ammunition that killed Hutchins, Spiro had said on Thursday.

A report of that interview was not included with the other Rust evidence nor shared with the lawyer of Gutierrez-Reed, Spiro said. Testimony from Alexandria Hancock, with the Santa Fe county sheriff’s office, revealed that she and other officials made the decision to file it separately from the other Rust evidence in an entirely different case file.

Baldwin’s attorneys said the the report was relevant to the entire case and relevant to the credibility of witnesses who testified in the trial.

“If this evidence wasn’t as important as we say it is, they would have turned it over,” Nikas said.

In the morning, Morrissey had described the motion as a “wild goose chase” and said she had never before seen the report about the ammunition brought to the sheriff’s office. But as the judge questioned Hancock, the corporal said that Morrissey had taken part in the decision to keep the evidence separate from the Rust case – which elicited gasps in the courtroom.

Troy Teske, the man who came forward with the ammunition, is a friend of Gutierrez-Reed’s father, Morrissey had said earlier. She denied the defense’s accusations and said Baldwin’s team was aware of the evidence brought forward.

In a highly unusual move, Morrissey called herself to the stand to defend her conduct – despite instruction from the judge that she did not have to do so. “I was not aware at that point in time that it would not be linked to the Rust case number,” she said.

On cross-examination, Spiro asked Morrissey if she disliked Baldwin – which she denied – and if she had ever referred to the actor as an “arrogant prick” and “cocksucker” in a conversation with a witness.

She said she did not recall doing so.

“I actually really appreciate Mr Baldwin’s movies,” she said. “I really appreciated the acting he did on Saturday Night Live. And I actually really appreciate his politics.”

The developments upended the prosecution’s case and it was revealed during Morrissey’s testimony that the special prosecutor Erlinda Johnson had resigned in the middle of the day.

Baldwin could have faced 18 months in prison if convicted.

A man has been arrested in connection with an investigation into the discovery of human remains on Clifton suspension bridge in Bristol and in west London, police have said.

A 34-year-old man was arrested at Bristol Temple Meads railway station in the early hours of Saturday and taken into custody. He will be taken to London for questioning.

Police had asked the public for help in the search for 34-year-old Colombian national Yostin Andres Mosquera. They said they were no longer looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.

Andy Valentine, the deputy assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan police, said: “This is a significant development in our investigation and I would like to thank the public for their support.”

Avon and Somerset police were called at 11.57pm on Wednesday after a man was seen acting suspiciously on the bridge.

Officers arrived less than 10 minutes later but the man had left the scene, leaving one suitcase behind. A second suitcase was found nearby a short time later. Both were found to contain human remains.

Inquiries carried out by officers from Avon and Somerset police and the Metropolitan police suggested the suspect had travelled to Bristol from London earlier the same day. As a result, the Met took over the investigation.

On Friday, police found further human remains in a flat in Scotts Road, Shepherd’s Bush, in west London, with the two incidents believed to be connected. The Met said officers believed they knew the identity of the two men, although formal identification was yet to take place.

A police forensic services van arrived at the crime scene in Shepherd’s Bush at just after 9.20am on Saturday. Three officers guarded a cordon taping off the area.

A 36-year-old man who was arrested in Greenwich on Friday in connection with the investigation has since been released without charge.

The bridge, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and opened in 1864, reopened on Thursday after being closed for more than 24 hours. It typically has 11,000 to 12,000 vehicle crossings a day.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy is expected to travel to the UK next week to address European leaders at Blenheim Palace who are meeting to discuss Ukraine, European security and democracy.

He will also make his first visit to Ireland on Saturday morning when he touches down in Shannon airport, Co Clare, for a meeting with the Irish taoiseach, Simon Harris.

Ireland, which has a longstanding policy of military neutrality but is contributing non-lethal aid such as clearance of landmines to Ukraine through the EU, is expected to offer more support to Ukraine’s efforts to return an estimated 20,000 children, who have been forcibly relocated to Russia and Belarus.

The Ukrainian president met Keir Starmer last week at the Nato summit in Washington, but this would be his first opportunity to meet a wider delegation of the Labour government, who will be eager to reiterate the UK’s continued support.

His travel arrangements are rarely confirmed but a source said it is “90% certain” Zelenskiy will be there.

Thursday’s conference is the fourth meeting of the European Political Community, a collective launched after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 that was the brainchild of the French president, Emmanuel Macron.

It is being seen as a “very significant” opportunity for Starmer to not just host up to 50 European leaders but to restore confidence in the UK and show the world the country is back on the international stage after years of reputational damage caused by Brexit.

The EPC is designed to facilitate the strengthening of ties between EU and non-EU leaders in an informal setting, with previous conferences held in Spain, Moldova and the Czech Republic.

Apart from the UK, non-EU countries including Norway, Iceland, Georgia, Kosovo, Serbia, Albania and Turkey are invited, though it is understood that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Turkish president who did not attend previous summits, has not confirmed participation.

As host Starmer will address the opening plenary session, which will be held in one of the halls in Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Winston Churchill. He is expected to underline the UK’s commitment to Ukraine and Zelenskiy, and to resetting the country’s post-Brexit relationship with the EU.

The prime minister has already pledged to establish closer ties with the EU, and the new minister for European relations, Nick Thomas-Symonds, travelled to Brussels for an introductory meeting with the former Brexit negotiator Maroš Šefčovič on Monday.

Ahead of the meeting, Starmer said: “Europe is at the forefront of some of the greatest challenges of our time.

“Russia’s barbaric war continues to reverberate across our continent, while vile smuggling gangs traffic innocent people on perilous journeys that too often end in tragedy.

“I said I would change the way the UK engages with our European partners, working collaboratively to drive forward progress on these generational challenges, and that work starts at the European Political Community meeting on Thursday.”

Harris has pledged to support the UK at a European level and has instructed his ministers to increase contact with London counterparts.

Starmer will have a number of bilateral talks – he is meeting Harris the night before at Chequers and is expected to have a separate meeting with Macron on Thursday in addition to taking soundings from EU leaders on what a new security and defence pact with the UK could look like post-Brexit.

Ukraine will dominate the plenary discussion with leaders, who will then be invited to join three break-out working groups centring on defence and democracy, which will include sessions on the disinformation crisis, energy and migration.

Macron is also determined to use the occasion to send a strong message of support to Ukraine from the EU in face of renewed threats from Vladimir Putin and more ominous comments this week by the former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, who denounced Nato’s summit promise to eventually support Ukraine’s membership of the defence bloc.

Security around the summit is tight with airspace restrictions in place over the Oxfordshire palace between 14 and 18 July. Police drones and the police air service will enforce the restricted airspace, according to Thames Valley police.

When Dayle Dixon and Mark Lee bought an attractive new house on the outskirts of Ivybridge in Devon in 2018, they believed it would be their forever home. But less than six years later it has been valued at just £1, and the couple are desperate to move out.

Dixon, 53, and Lee, 59, had not owned a property before, and bought their home, in an estate called Lucerne Fields, using, in part, almost £55,000 borrowed through the government’s help-to-buy scheme.

The three-bedroom home looks pretty on the outside, with its cream-coloured exterior and long windows. There is a garage and space for two cars in the driveway.

But the property, which they bought from the Barratt Developments subsidiary David Wilson Homes for £274,995, was valued last year by independent chartered surveyors at  £1 after a catalogue of major defects emerged. The surveyors said that without the problems, it would have been worth £330,000.

After the then Conservative MP for South West Devon, Gary Streeter, visited the estate in 2018, he praised the development, writing on his website: “The quality of the new homes was evident, and the care taken to ensure the development fits into the surrounding locale was clear.”

Dixon and Lee say their experience of their home has been very different, however.

“We have had literally hundreds of problems with the house,” Dixon says. “And repairs that have been carried out have not been done correctly.”

Dixon and Lee’s problems with their “dream” home began even before they moved in. They visited the property as soon as they got the keys, two days before their moving date, and noticed a hairline crack in one of the floors. Barratt agreed to put a screed layer on top before they moved in but Dixon says this made no difference. The next problem that came to light, soon after they moved in, was a broken soil pipe.

Over time more problems emerged. The couple have an extensive paper trail of their complaints, including reports assessing the problem and emails from them to people at Barratt outlining failures to resolve the issues.

Since they moved in Dixon has had time signed off work suffering from stress and anxiety, which she blames on the problems.

“I have developed PTSD, suffer from nightmares and sweats and can’t function properly. A lot of the time I feel physically sick,” she says. “We are living in a house that is a complete mess.”

The chartered surveyors who last year valued the couple’s house at £1 listed numerous defects in their valuation report, including inadequate damp proofing, water ingress, inadequate floor screed (used to create an even floor surface), inadequate window design, and damaged and corroding structural floor beams.

The report stated: “The ground floor will have to be stripped back to shell stage, sections of structural walls and floors will have to be removed, and it is likely that further defects which will require repair will be identified as works progress.”

It added: “Numerous significant defects have been identified. There has been limited positive engagement from the developer in resolving these issues … There is consequently an ongoing and costly dispute arising between the parties which only appears to be escalating.”

Reports commissioned by Barratt have taken a more upbeat view of the problems than those commissioned by the couple, although one structural assessment commissioned by the developer conceded that there was damage to one of the floor beams and that cracks needed to be monitored. Another Barratt-commissioned report recommended remedial action for cracks across the floor.

The couple are taking the firm to the small claims court over damage to items when repairers were in their home. Barratt declined to answer Guardian Money’s questions about the house, citing this legal action as the reason.

Dixon says that the couple have given up on their hope that the problems can be fixed and they can belatedly start to enjoy their home.

“We’ve had enough of having our lives wasted and being treated like idiots,” she says.

“I want Barratt to buy our house back at the market value it would have if it was in a good state of repair – about £350,000.”

Others on the estate have also reported problems but no one else was willing to talk to the Guardian. One family said they were unable to speak to the media because they are involved in legal action against the company and do not want to jeopardise compensation settlements they are in the course of negotiating.

Elsewhere, Roberto and his husband bought what they thought was going to be a wonderful home in Wiltshire from Barratt last October.

They paid £400,000 for the three-bedroom detached house but say that a litany of problems soon emerged, including lack of insulation and a garage built 30cm lower than it was supposed to be, along with problems with a fence, brickwork, paving slabs and the door of their shower.

“It’s an absolute shambles,” Roberto says. “When we first purchased the house, we thought it was perfect, but we have had so many problems. The house is cold and we can feel the wind coming inside because of the lack of insulation. When they fix one thing they damage something else. I’m so depressed about the whole thing. Barratt has offered us financial compensation but some of the walls need to be stripped out completely and redone.”

The housebuilder has accepted that a range of identified defects need to be repaired, including the insulation problem, the replacement of external vents and checks to ensure ducting is adequately sealed. It has also agreed to remove and replace some of the skirting boards and some of the plasterboard and work to raise the height of the garage and the driveway. However, the couple are still living with problems.

“All of this is not fair,” Roberto says. “We want to make the house beautiful but there doesn’t seem to be any point. We paid to get a good home but it seems that we actually paid to get pain from Barratt.”

Barratt said it had carried out some work to the house but declined to give an on-the-record statement on the case.

Instead, a spokesperson said: “As a five-star housebuilder we are proud of the high quality of our homes and well over 90% of our customers would recommend us to their friends and family. We build thousands of homes every year and on occasion where things go wrong we work hard to put them right as quickly as possible.”

Dixon hopes that if Barratt buys back their home from them, they can buy another property.

Otherwise, she says, “We won’t be able to afford to rent … In the worst-case scenario, we’ll have to move in with my elderly parents.”

How warranties work

One of the big advantages of buying a newly built home is that it comes with a 10-year warranty – essentially an insurance policy.

If you discover problems with your new-build home, you have various rights and options when it comes to trying to get these sorted out.

The 10-year warranty

This is taken out by the builder or developer and is supposed to protect the homebuyer.

It is usually split into two periods: a builder warranty for the first two years, then insurance cover for the next eight years.

The consumer body Which? says that while the first bit covers structural problems and minor defects found within the first two years, which the builder is obliged to resolve, the second part of the warranty “only covers structural issues … It doesn’t cover cosmetic issues or minor defects”.

The HomeOwners Alliance agrees, saying the structural issues include foundations, the external render, roofs, ceilings, chimneys and load-bearing parts of the floors.

So buyers really only have two years to identify, report and resolve non-structural flaws that may take several months to come to light.

It is thought the vast majority of new homes are covered by the Buildmark policy from the National House Building Council, although there are several other warranty providers, including Buildsafe, Checkmate and LABC Warranty.

The consumer codes and complaints bodies

Hopefully the developer or builder will come round promptly to fix any problems. If you need to escalate a complaint, you will first need to go through the developer’s formal complaints process, Which? says.

If you are still getting the runaround, you have options. For example, the NHBC says it provides an independent resolution service should a builder not meet their obligations under Buildmark.

The next thing to do is to check if your builder or developer is signed up to a code of conduct. Almost all warranty providers require developers to sign up to a consumer code, which is there to protect consumers during the sales process and offers a dispute resolution service if things go wrong during the first two years, says the HomeOwners Alliance.

The two main ones are the New Homes Quality Code, run by the New Homes Quality Board (NHQB), and the Consumer Code for Home Builders (there is also the Consumer Code for New Homes). Your developer should let you know which one applies to you.

If a builder allegedly doesn’t meet the requirements of the NHQB code, consumers can go to the New Homes Ombudsman Service, which will investigate and provide compensation if necessary.

Meanwhile, if you think your developer has breached the Consumer Code for Home Builders, you can access its independent dispute resolution scheme, which may order the company to pay compensation or carry out remedial work.

An ambush bug with a darker-coloured body is better at snagging a sexual partner than its brighter counterpart when it is chilly. Darker males can warm up more easily in the early mornings, and therefore get busy while everybody else is still warming up.

This is one of the many examples of how temperature affects colouring in insects, and in turn can affect their ability to mate, according to a new review article published in the journal Ecology and Evolution.

But scientists are still trying to work out what will happen to insects’ sex lives now that human-induced climate breakdown is raising temperatures to unprecedented levels.

“On the one hand, we could be rejoicing, saying: how are the insects? They are responding to climate change. We don’t have to worry about them,” said Mariella Herberstein, a behavioural ecologist at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, who is one of the authors of the study.

“And then we could wake up the next day going: Oh, damn – they can’t find each other any more because they have lost really important identification colours that help them find a mate.”

The prevailing theory among scientists, says Herberstein, is that when temperatures increase, insects largely evolve to produce less of the melanin pigment that regulates their hue, becoming lighter and brighter in colour. That is because darker objects absorb more heat and heat up quicker, while lighter objects reflect more incoming irradiation and can stay cooler for longer.

For example, the wing colours of the Mead’s sulphur butterflies of the North American mountains have faded over time as temperatures have risen – their shimmery, sulphur yellow wings paler, according to a 2016 study. Between the 1980s and the 2000s, it became increasingly less likely for the two-spotted ladybug to be black with red spots rather than red with black spots. The dark spots on the back of the similarly patterned subarctic leaf beetle have also decreased as springs get warmer.

But Herberstein’s team have found the pattern is not always so straightforward. A follow-up study on the Mead’s sulphur butterflies that looked at more than 800 butterflies collected for museum samples between 1953 and 2013 found that in some areas, their pale yellow wings actually got richer and darker in colour over time. One species of the walking stick insect got greener and darker over time as temperatures got warmer, according to a study from 2018, as did one species of planthopper, as researchers sampled it higher and higher up the mountain.

“The mechanism isn’t so clearcut – it’s confusing,” said another of the study’s authors, Md Tangigul Haque, a PhD student at Macquarie University. This may be because researchers are working with a limited set of data, and because much of that little data collected comes from similar studies with similar insects in similar locations, he says. It is probably also because melanin does not just have a heat-related function, but is involved in immunological defences and helps protect against ultraviolet radiation from the sun.

But colour is also involved in attracting mates, in camouflage from predators or from prey, and in allowing one member of a species to easily recognise others – and all of this could be altered by rising temperatures. “If we’re affecting their reproduction, we’re seriously impacting their population viability,” said Herberstein. “It is just one of those pieces that we need to figure out.”

Cracking this conundrum could play a crucial role in figuring out exactly how insects might be able to weather climate breakdown, said Michael Moore, an integrative biologist at the University of Colorado Denver. Moore was not involved in the latest research but in 2021 spotted that male dragonflies were losing their wing colour patterns where the climate is hotter, and is trying to establish whether that makes it harder for the dragonflies to find their mates.

“One thing that really sticks out to me is that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all rule,” said Moore. “We have a lot more work to do – we haven’t solved this one yet.”

Taylor Swift’s candor about her struggles with body image and disordered eating have aided the pop superstar’s fans in grappling with those issues themselves, according to new scientific research.

The authors of a University of Vermont (UVM) study published in the July issue of the Social Science & Medicine journal reached that conclusion after analyzing the top 200 TikTok and Reddit social media posts containing more than 8,300 comments pertaining to Swift, eating disorders and body image.

“Our findings suggest that fans who felt highly connected to Swift were influenced to positively change their behaviors or attitudes around eating or their body image because of Swift’s disclosures and messages in her music,” said a press statement attributed to study co-author Lizzy Pope, a registered dietitian nutritionist and associate professor in UVM’s nutrition and food sciences department.

Pope’s fellow registered dietitian nutritionist and study author Kelsey Rose, a UVM clinical assistant professor, added: “Fans seem to take inspiration from the fact that Swift had recovered from disordered eating and subsequently appeared to be thriving.”

Yet the study’s findings about the “parasocial” – or one-sided – relationship between Swift and the so-called Swifties who support her career aren’t exclusively good news. The survey found that some fans ignore Swift’s message and insist on objectifying the her body, demonstrating “the limitations of personal disclosures to [affect] understanding of systemic issues like anti-fat bias”.

Swift earned news headlines in 2020 when the songwriter-vocalist detailed how she grappled with outsiders’ perception of her weight – and the physical beauty standards by which many women are measured – in her Miss Americana documentary.

The singer explained how seeing pictures of herself made her feel like her “tummy was too big” or how speculation over whether she was pregnant would trigger “to just starve a little bit”.

“If you’re thin enough, then you don’t have that ass … everybody wants. But if you have enough weight … to have an ass, your stomach isn’t flat enough,” Swift remarked.

She then uttered the words which provided the title of Pope and Rose’s recent study: “It’s all just fucking impossible.”

The survey also alluded to Swift’s 2022 music video for her No1 hit Anti-Hero, which depicted her stepping onto a scale, looking down at the weight reading, sighing in disappointment and casting a guilty glance at her alter ego, who shakes her head in consternation.

Ultimately, although Swift had not managed to completely silence comments objectifying her, the survey determined the singer-songwriter was an effective role model for those confronting disordered eating recovery, particularly after she embarked on her record-setting Eras concert tour in May 2023.

The release of Pope and Rose’s study arrived within days of an opinion column published by Newsweek which declared Swift was “not a good role model” because she was “unmarried and childless” at age 34 despite a high-profile relationship with pro football player Travis Kelce and prior romances with other famous men.

Many who encountered the column dismissed it as misogynistic and insane.